“Wow! It’s from Mom! Thank you, Mike!”
“Victoria was worried about you, Nonna,” he said.
“Huh? But why? I’ve been such a good girl!”
“Is that so?”
Edward had told Mike about Nonna asking Lady Yolana for help in infiltrating the castle. How is that being a good girl? Still, he resisted the urge to smirk in response and instead just nodded impassively.
“Are you free right now, Mike?”
“Not really, but what is it?”
“I wanted you to watch the game Grandmother and I play. It’s really fun.”
“All right, let’s see it.”
Although he was swamped with work, he followed Nonna to the sunroom. He felt it was part of his duty to keep tabs on her anyway.
Lady Courtney Asher sat on the sofa and greeted him with an elegant smile. “Oh, Nonna! Do you have a guest?”
“Yes! This is my friend.”
Mike was taken aback by Nonna referring to him as her friend and glanced at the girl as she smiled at her grandmother.
Well, why not? he thought, smiling politely as he introduced himself.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Mike, a friend of Nonna’s.”
“Courtney Asher. Thank you for taking care of Nonna.”
Edward had mentioned that Courtney’s mind sometimes wandered between the past and the present, but as of this moment, she seemed perfectly lucid.
“Grandmother, I brought Mike here to watch our game!” Nonna said.
“Of course, dear.”
“Let’s begin.”
Nonna took out a handmade ball—a down pillow tightly bound with thin string to hold a round shape—about twice the size of an adult’s head.
“Here we go! The first one is cat!”
Nonna tossed the ball underhanded in an arc to Courtney.
Mike inwardly panicked for a moment, but Courtney caught it effortlessly despite remaining seated. Courtney paused briefly and then threw the ball back at Nonna.
“All right, Nonna. Rabbit!”
“Hmm… Frog!”
“Let’s see… Grasshopper!”
“Cucumber!”
“Spinach!”
“What do you think, Mike? Can you figure out the rules?”
“You respond with something that shares a common trait?”
“Exactly! Mom used to play this with me when I was little. Back then, we used a smaller ball.” Nonna made a circle with her hands about the size of an apple.
Courtney threw the ball far from Nonna every time, and Nonna would dive for it, sometimes catching it before it hit the floor, other times kicking it up into the air before grabbing it. Occasionally, she would roll across the floor dramatically before leaping back onto her feet.
Hmm, so these are the kinds of games the former ace Haglian operative played with her child, Mike thought with interest.
As he observed, Courtney spoke to him in a gentle voice. “Before Nonna came to stay with us, I couldn’t move much, and I had a lot of trouble thinking straight. But playing with someone with as much energy as Nonna has been such a wonderful change of pace. Thanks to her, I sleep so much better at night now.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Well, Nonna, Lady Courtney. I have some work to attend to, so I must excuse myself,” said Mike.
A smile lingered on Mike’s face as he walked back to the palace.
“I really wish Victoria would serve as our instructor…,” he said. “I wonder if it’s even possible…”
Meanwhile, in a room at Hotel Fruud, Gunther Bahr was reading a letter from his homeland.
The letter was written in Randallish, but the writer was Gunther’s father, a duke from the kingdom of Eagal. It began with the typical seasonal greetings and inquiries about Gunther’s health, but the end of the letter contained troubling news.
The maple tree in the garden seems to be dying, and I’m quite worried about it. Meanwhile, the laurel trees have suddenly started to thrive. I fear the garden will soon be overrun by them.
Gunther’s expression darkened as he read those words.
“So there isn’t much time left.”
The kingdom of Eagal was north of Ashbury, and the crest of its royal family featured a maple leaf.
Meanwhile, the crest of a noble faction pushing for their relative to be on the throne bore a laurel tree.
The leading noble house supporting Eagal’s current royal family was the Aldran ducal house. Gunther Bahr, also known as Grayson Aldran, was the fifth son of Duke Aldran.
The king of Eagal was elderly and ailing, so the seeds of a succession conflict were beginning to sprout. The day the king would pass the throne to the crown prince was drawing near, and various factions were already maneuvering behind the scenes to take advantage of the transition of power.
Grayson thought back to the moment a year ago when his father had entrusted him with his mission.
After being summoned to his family estate, Grayson sat before his father.
“Grayson, I have a request for you. This is something only you can do, and it will determine the future of this kingdom.”
“Father, please don’t use such distant words like request. Just tell me what to do, and I shall do it, even at the cost of my life.”
“Then I will. I want you to disguise yourself as Gunther Bahr—a nobleman from Randall—and infiltrate the castle in Ashbury. You must protect Princess Delphine.”
“Protect Princess Delphine? Is there someone in the palace who is targeting her? Surely not…”
“There is. Fortunately, you are a rarity: a duke’s son who became a soldier and rarely appeared at social events. No one will recognize you in Ashbury. You can easily pass as the second son of a baron from Randall.”
His father’s eyes bore into him. They were beginning to grow slightly clouded; not even someone as hardworking as his father could stave off the effects of aging.
“Marquess Barbier is rallying antiroyalist nobles. The plan is to eliminate Princess Delphine first to ensure the Ashburian royal army won’t intervene if a civil war breaks out here in Eagal. Barbier’s agents are already inside Ashbury’s royal palace. I need you to act without alerting Ashbury. We will spare no expense. The day is fast approaching when Barbier’s faction will hatch a rebellion to destroy the peace between Eagal and Ashbury. I need you to protect Princess Delphine from them.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Our house is being surveilled, so I can’t spare any manpower to assist you. Do you think you can manage it alone? We’ve already prepared everything you need to assume a false identity.”
“Leave it to me.”